Despite such a wide and comprehensive psychological and psychophysiological examination of recruits in modern professional selection systems both in the armies of NATO countries and Ukraine, the effectiveness of the process is insufficient. To identify the reasons for the insufficient prognostic effectiveness of modern psychophysiological methods, a study was made of the variability in the organization of brain structures to ensure the speed of a simple sensorimotor reaction (PSMR) of a high level as a basic characteristic of the functional state of the central nervous system. As a result of a survey of 54 servicemen of different specialties, it was found that the same indicators of the state of psychophysiological functions are provided by different strategies for their implementation. Electroencephalograms were recorded when military personnel performed a computer test to determine the speed of PSMR. It was revealed that at approximately the same rate of PSMR, different brain structures were activated in servicemen. Since the same PSMR value can be realized by different neural networks, what we do not detect during psychophysiological testing, but later on under stress, load, etc. military personnel may exhibit different behavioral strategies. Such types of behaviour make it possible to achieve the best results in various types of activity and correspond to the profiles of different military specialties, and vice versa, it can be assumed that neural networks of approximately the same type can implement somewhat different indicators of psychophysiological functions. The same psychophysiological profile can correspond to different profiles of military specialties and vice versa, several psychophysiological profiles can correspond to one specialty, since approximately the same values of psychophysiological functions can be realized by different neural networks. Therefore, psychophysiological testing should be supplemented with neurophysiological testing, since it allows revealing the internal features of the organization of the brain and predicting the further behavior of servicemen.
We examined the latent periods (LP) of simple sensorimo- tor reaction (SSMR) and peculiarities of brain connectiv- ity during carrying out tests on SSMR in the group of veterans of Joint Forces Operation (JFO) and in military men-patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). To this aim, we used a computer test with coherent analysis of EEG. Differences in brain activation were analyzed by LORETA method. It was shown that the speed of SSMR in the group of JFO veterans was significantly lower than in the con- trol group. The LP of SSMR in the group of JFO veterans were 279 ms vs 258 ms in the control group. Comparative analysis of SSMR LP in the group of JFO veterans and in the group with PTSD as well as group with mTBI did not reveal significant differences. The EEG study and coherent analysis showed a significant decrease in the brain connectivity in the group of JFO veterans compared to control group, especially in the low frequency ranges. There were no significant differences in brain activation between the JFO veterans, PTSD and mTBI patients, but JFO veterans had significantly lower activation of cu- neus, middle occipital gyrus and lingual gyrus compared to control group. Conclusively, in order to detect hidden brain lesions, an additional medical examination may be recommended for JFO veterans.
To discover age-related changes in the simple sensorimotor reaction (SSMR), choice reaction (CR), functional mobility of nervous processes (FMNP) and brain productivity (BP), as well as to determine the stress index (SI) of regulatory systems during performance of these tests. Forty-seven healthy volunteers, representatives of military professions, aged 18–54 were divided into three groups (first group – 18–23 years, n=16; second group – 24– 34 years, n=19; third group – 35–54 years, n=12) and performed original computer tests to determine SSMR, CR, FMNP and BP. An electrocardiogram (ECG) was recorded in parallel. Although the rate of SSMR and CR did not differ for participants of three groups, the SI was significantly higher in the third group, compared with the first group (p<0.01) during SSMR. During CR performance it was significantly higher for the third and second groups compared with the first one (p<0.01). The FMNP index was significantly higher in the third group compared to the first one (p<0.05), and BP had the highest values for the second group compared to the first one (p<0.01). During performance of BP test, the SI did not differ in three groups, and during the test for FMNP it was significantly higher in the third group compared to the first one (p<0.01). The effectiveness of simple tasks (SSMR and CR) does not change with age, but their level is maintained due to increase of the SI of regulatory systems, i.e. increasing sympathetic tone. The FMNP value mainly depends on the individual CNS characteristics than on age. The highest level of FMNP was in the elderly. They also had elevated levels of the SI of regulatory systems. The reason of this could be associated with the high activity of cortical neurons, which leads to intensification of metabolic processes and changes in the level of autonomic supply. The lowest level of relative error, i.e. the highest level of BP was found in the middle age group. At the same time, no differences were found in the SI of regulatory systems between servicemen of different age groups during BP test performance.
Introduction.For different types of professional activity, the speed of information processing is one of the most important indicators of performance. It is well known that aging is accompanied by changes in the speed and / or mode of information processing in the brain. Simple sensorimotor reaction (SMR) shows speed and efficiency of information perception processes, its integration and is and reveals how well the basic cognitive mechanisms can be involved in the implementation of target tasks. Purpose.The aim of this work was to investigate the rate of SMR in different age groups and to identify age-related changes in neural networks that promote task performance.Methods.The survey involved 34 right-handed volunteers, aged 18-54, without health complaints - representatives of various military professions (mechanics, shooters, drivers, radar operators, anti-aircraft missile officers, communications, tablets, pilots and conscripts), which were divided into three age groups (1 group - 18-23 years, n = 11; 2 group - 24-34 years, n = 15; 3 group - 35- 54 years, n = 8). SMR was determined using a specialized computer program and while its performance 19 electrode EEG was recorded. Remote synchronization of brain areas was determined using coherent analysis in Neuron-Spectrum-4 / VP complex («NeuroSoft»). Reliable synchronization was determined only for those pairs of leads for which the median was ≥ 0.7.Results.Although the comparative analysis of the PSMR rate in the three groups according to the Kruskal-Wallis test did not reveal significant differences (Kruskal-Wallis test: H (2, N = 54) = 0.889; p = 0.64), coherent analysis of electroencephalograms, which were recorded during task, revealed that there were differences in the neural mechanisms of SSMR between the three age groups. We showed age-related increases in activation of the left secondary visual cortex, while activation of the left frontal lobe decreasedwhich may indicate shift from the strategic system of response to the system of informative features selection and constant attention maintenance. In the third group coherence in the theta range between the prefrontal area and the postcentral gyrus was the strongest in comparison with the first and second groups, which may indicate an increase in the role of visual selective attention with age, as well as greater effort and concentration to perform the task. Also there was an age-related increase in the alpha range coherences and decrease in the delta range, which may indicate shift from the general setting to the input information flow to local highly specific information processing.Originality. Age-related adaptive changes of the neural networks that enable effective performance of the SSMR: different strategies of visual-motor reaction are revealed.72 Серія «Біологічні науки», 202 2Conclusions. Performance of the SSMR test involves different neuronal strategies that were determined for three age groups. The prospect of further research is to determine age-related differences in the chronometric indicators and neuronal mechanisms for SSMR, choice reaction and other psychophysiological tests for different military specialties and according to acquired data create guidelines for conducting surveys to ensure effective performance of work responsibilities with age. Key words: simple sensorimotor reaction; electroencephalogram; coherent analysis; age-related changes; professional selection
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